


Sore ga shinjiru michi

by TheStarsHaveAligned



Category: Hakuouki
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 08:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4052968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStarsHaveAligned/pseuds/TheStarsHaveAligned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her honest, earnest eyes pinned him to the spot. Words spoken from the heart, eyes that did not deceive, that showed her pure soul. Chizuru never lied to him. She had no reason to, but it was beyond having a reason to lie right now. Her honest eyes showed him yet another thing. Saito understood, slowly, what he had already known, what he seemed to know for so long: her truth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sore ga shinjiru michi

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set in the PSP playthrough of Hakuouki, just after the right answer in Saito's route when Hijikata asks you what do you want to do, just before the battle at Aizu, and told in a 3rd person omniscient narrator.  
> After replaying Hakuouki for the tenth time and watching the hakumyu Saito hen it was only normal this happened. The story behind this fanfic comes from the theory I have that Hajime fell for Chizuru back at chapter 3 when they had that talk in the alley when he was guarding Miura, and she told him his sword had saved her, and she wanted him to live. And it made me wonder, if his love had had such long run, to what lenghts would he have gone to protect her. And then a variation of his route came to mind. Because Saito Hajime has no bad endings in his story besides the one that lead to bloodthirst killing them both, so.
> 
> So I hope you enjoy this cruel and sad story of a love that didn't have the chance to start.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Hakuouki nor any of its characters.
> 
> *Ps at the end of the story.

"I'll stay here."

It was not just her words, but the calm acceptance with which she had said them, that left Saito stunned and shocked away his tears. Just before, Hijikata and him had been talking about the grim future, the wistful past days, the bitter present. And he had asked Chizuru what she wanted to do -something that had bothered Saito slightly because it was obvious what she'd would do: go to a safer place, far from war and far, as far as possible, from the onis and bloodthirsty rasetsus that roamed this place. But now-

"Well, guess I shouldn't ask _why_."

Saito glared at him, then back at her. He would not dare to say what he had heard in Hijikata's voice was sarcasm, or even irony or amusement. He had plainly stated this was HIS deed. That she was staying because of him. Saito's stare must have made its effect because Hijikata gave Chizuru another chance to go away with them, and then walked away, his steps deliberately slow - or maybe that was the consequence of the injury in his leg- and Saito and Chizuru remained there, a cold fire spreading through the body of the former, his head beating with what was either a headache or the beginnings of a dreadful thirst attack. Maybe that was why his words sounded harsher than he intended, though he intended them to be as cold as possible - and with all the reason to. What she had unilaterately decided was unreasonable and ridiculous. And that made him angry beyond a point.

"Why did you do that? It's not too late. You can still catch up to Hijikata san."

She seemed taken aback by his voice, but quickly denied with her head and Saito found such thing enraged him even more, his temper about to be lost.

"Were you listening to what he said to you? Aizu will become a battlefield. There is no guarantee that we will survive. If you stay here you'll die in vain."

"Saito san... you are planing to die here, aren't you?"

She saw right through him, as she always had done. And her words were so soft, and calm... Saito found lying at this point would be proven extremely unefficient. And yet... what he felt from her, such strage confidence, such strong determination, left him almost defenseless.

"... What if I told you that I was?"

"I'd tell you I was definitely staying, then. I want to be with you until... until the end."

It couldn't be. Such foolishness - she needn't show such comittement towards them, towards him. She had already been unnecesarily dragged towards danger enough for a lifetime.

"Because I saved your life? I was only doing as Hijikata san had ordered me to; that was my duty, nothing more. You'd be a child and a fool to put your life in danger for that. Now leave."

"No, I don't just want to stay with you because you saved my life."

"Then why?"

_Why? Why then, Chizuru?_

"... Do you really not want me here?"

Her eyes. Her honest, earnest eyes pinned him to the spot. Words spoken from the heart, eyes that did not deceive, that showed her pure soul.

Chizuru never lied to him. She had no reason to, but it was beyond having a reason to lie right now. Her honest eyes showed him yet another thing. Saito understood, slowly, what he had already known, what he seemed to know for so long but was hidden to himself.

Her truth.

This woman loved him. What should have been the happiest moment of his life became shadowed by the fear, anxiety and regret of the situation. She could not die. He had sworn to protect her. He had sworn to his soul, to his pride. To his heart.

The death of the woman he loved was something he'd not allow for as long as he could, but the death of the woman he loved because she loved him, that was something he'd not be able to stand.

And so, as she begged him an answer, her eyes shinning with unshed tears, and her hands tightly clasped together, he found an eerie calm enveloping him. Saito knew the right thing to do. Aizu would become a slaughterhouse, a bloodbath. A death field. She had to live. He'd protect her.

 _I don't want you to die_. He wanted to tell her this, to bare his soul to her. To a warrior like him, honesty to his comrades owed a deep deal, but Saito was also used to deceive. To kill from behind, to betray, for those he swore to protect. Saito never lied to himself. If he stood honest to himself he knew he could go on. Betrayal to his heart, to his comrades, was the only one thing he could not do.

But now he had to. He had to betray himself to save her. Because if he let even a little amount of his own self show, if he bared a piece of his heart to her, he'd not be able to let go. He'd allow her to stay. To die with him.

Such greedy, miserable heart. He wanted her even in death. He wanted all of her, and now he knew she was his.

How unfortunate, to be ready to let go of everything and then find a rope leading to the light.

He didn't want it. He had wanted to bravely face death, to die like a warrior, the final path of the bushido, with his sword as his last companion.

And now. Now he was torn between dying with her or dying alone.

He always thought he'd be alone at death. You fight with comrades, and lose them. Losing friends was painful, so it was undesirable. Forming bonds, losing them. Saito did not want any of that pain. So he isolated himself as much as he could. So he could fight alone, and die alone. He did not want to grieve, or be grieved. He did not want to lose focus on his mission because of the pain of losing someone close.

Souji. Heisuke.

Hijikata san.

Yukimura san. No, Chizuru.

If he fell, there would be nothing afterwards; pain, regrets, everything would be left behind. His mission, either fullfilled or not, would lose meaning before death.

But this new source of regrets, of fear, of anxiety... he did not want it. He did not want this burden feelings were. He did not need them, now of all the times.

He loved her.

Saito was aware of how much and how long since he first aknowleded this feeling. Of how much she soothed him, of how much she brought back a life he thought he had lost against death.

He swore to protect her. So he would; he would protect her from death, he would protect her from himself.

"Go back to Hijikata san."

The words came easy after he decided, after he took this as his only path. There was no way he'd accept her death wish.

Chizuru deserved to live, happily, fully. Far from the deathly war, far from the torment and guilt of the corpses.

He saw his words sinking in her and how she fought against them. _Silly, heartstrong girl. Accept them. Accept this; this will be my only gift to you. Live. Live Chizuru. Live for me._

"I don't want to."

As if her rebellious state forced her to pout, she fought her tears and stared at him. Forcing, begging his eyes to look at her. How unfair; Chizuru knew his words were a double edged sword. She knew his eyes did not lie or deceive.

"I'll take you to him by force if necessary."

_Force me. Make me drag you to Hijikata. Give me solace seconds in this death trip. Steal seconds to death. Each moment I'm with you I'm further away from darkness, your light blinding me. You make me believe there is a way. You make me dream of a future with you, a peaceful future awaiting in your arms._

How much he wish she'd never showed him this. How much he wished she'd never offered him love.

Now he'll have to carry it to the battlefield, a place where men fight with their broken selves to death. He didn't want to bring that light, that hope there, and stain it. So pure, so innocent. So sweet.

Chizuru smelled sweet. Sweet as sakura flowers carried by the wind. _Maybe you scent can guide me to life, maybe it can bring me back from death. If I survive this..._

No. He musn't dare think of surviving this. If he fought knowing there was something he can't lose he would fear. He can't bring fear to a battlefield. He has to fight with his life in the line.

_I'm a sword of the shinsengumi, I am a warrior. What is needed of me is to kill my emotions to keep straight ahead. If I fear, if I doubt, if I cling to something... I'll lose._

Every battle may be the last one. Not fearing death, looking at it in the eye is what had kept him alive all this time. His skill, his sword, his experience... his will.

She should not be here, too pure and innocent. She didn't belong to this death and darkness.

_Go away from me, Chizuru._

She did not move from the spot. Time was running out, Saito's confidence weakening at her honest eyes. Crumbling to his desires.

All he never knew he needed. Before him stood the missing piece of his heart he never knew to be missing, the light, warm and dazzing, guiding him to life.

Life stood before him, and death awaited just behind him. But there was only one path. Saito would not falter. He owed the Shinsengumi, Aizu. Himself. Her.

His steps approached her, his hand held her wrist, and his body yanked her from the spot.

 _Thank you for letting me take you to Hijikata. Thank you for this few seconds stolen to death. You will never know how much I thank you for this; touching you like this, not using you._ Ah, he wanted to apologize for that too. For the pain he caused, for the fear he ignited, the fright of the bloodlust.

Yes, it was true. A beast did not deserve this, either. He thanked her for reminding him with her purity all he wanted to protect from himself.

"Saito san, please...! Please let me stay with you!"

She fights. Even now she fights for them. Chizuru, always so complying, always so meek, is fighting his grip, desobeying his orders. Fighting for him.

_Thank you for fighting for me. Thank you Chizuru._

He saw Heisuke and Hijikata san and fastened his steps towards them, earning a yank from his captive. Chizuru did not want this. _Thank you. For the hopes you lighted, the life you showed me, but now we must part._

 _I'm bringing your heart with me. So stay alive until we meet again. Stay alive_. Saito's eyes meet with Hijikata's and he understands; keep her alive, and safe. Saito knows Hijikata is a man of word. He knows if there is someone who can protect her, that is him. His fukuchou. If she's left in his care he can willingly give all of himself to the fight. If he knows she is safe, his spirits lift and his heart weights as a feather. Saito knows Hjikata will protect her light.

Just as he releases her, her hand finds his clothes and grabs him. A last attempt, a merciless silence. And finally she tears her eyes from him. Now he can turn his back to her, and direct his steps to the battlefield. Her eyes, her voice, her scent, her presence, her light. All of her he has memorized.

So she'll keep him company and fight by his side. So long she is safe, he has nothing to lose.

_Now I could die in peace, if she lived._

_I have protected her._

_Nothing weights inside me anymore._

He leaves the chains of his heart behind, as her eyes watch him go, the sounds of the night drowning any other sound.

* * *

The battle is fierce. Aizu is at clear dissadvantage; even with the acquired western weapons, cannons and guns shoot and kill them at expense, tenths of his men dying for every man he can kill at a time with his sword.

This new time is truly frightening. But not because of the power of this new weapons, but for the dehumanization of death; now you can kill at distance, you don't have to face your enemy, humans as you are, and see his fear and death before you. You can kill and it weights nothing, there is no respect for the fallen ones, for those you killed.

The respect for life and death is now lost.

Gunpowder stinks and the smoke from the fire burns in his eyes. Saito fights blindly, between a smoke cloud of powder and humidity, cries of bullets and fallen ones around him. Everytime he hears a whistle he thinks he could be the next one to fall, but keeps fighting; death promise never stopped him. Death lived with him, was part of him since he was born, so he never feared it. Pain, or torture, those were different, but death never perturbed him. Everybody dies.

At least he can choose how to. The battlefield. His convictions. His soul. All laid and commited to his heart. He would fight for Aizu until the end, the standart of makoto with him. The souls of his comrades at his back.

Saito never fought alone.

His comrades in arms keep falling next to him, their lives lost standing their ground. Saito aknowledges and honors their deaths fighting to his last breath, to extenuation, and when his body is about to give in, his hair turns white and he knows this is his limit. From now on there is no turning back. He will die, either a bullet, a samurai, or his own body giving in; he will fall in this field. To his heart content. So he pushes before him and keeps fighting, his strenght renewed, his thirst gnawing at his throat, but his sanity caged and preserved.

Saito knows he won't lose his sanity. He left it in her hands, so whatever becomes of him here, she'll not know. If she doesn't know, he'd not become a monster. He'd live in her eyes, and memories. Same as her eyes will be the last thing he sees of her, his former self will be what remains in her.

And he is content.

The battle is over. They lost. Tsuruga-jo is lost and Aizu has been slaughtered; without pride the corpses of the brave soldiers are stomped, and Saito feels fury crawl at him. They deserved to be treated honorably, but instead they are spitted and left to crows.

Despicable.

Hate transforms humans into monsters.

His breathing is heavy, and he feels death eroding from the insides, eating his heart and flesh and mind.

He is one of the few prisioners; as the captain, and some other high ranked surviving soldiers, what awaits for him is probably torture, and afterwards execution.

Vile.

These men would not allow him to die like a warrior. Saito regrets surviving the rest of his fallen comrades. His head will probably be exposed as a war trophy, and then fed to the pigs.

These men knew no honor. No, they probably lost it in the way; hate swallowed their humanity, their pride. The bushido is dead, a gun killed it.

He can only expect death. He hopes to become ashes and be craddled by the wind towards her.

Chizuru.

* * *

The sun burns his skin. His eyes hurt by its light and he is thirsty and hungry.

Saito never hoped to live to see another day.

But he is alive. He is free.

He survived the war, and the bloodthirst.

His life was spared after months of captivity and tortures. They punished him for belonging to the shinsegumi, for his loyalty to Aizu. They offended him offering him a quick death by betraying his heart. Saito never complied. He sought death every night, hoping her face would be the last thing he saw. But he woke up everyday and the cicle repeated.

He lost the notion of time, and the fear of pain. Death would come, and he'd not let it find him scared or misbehaved. He had long before accepted his fate, long before the battle he knew he'd die, so whenever it came did not matter much.

But now he was alive, and free. The new Imperial forces, the Meiji Government, had spared his life in exchange for his future services. They said they valued his skill, not just as a swordman, but as a strategists. Saito was a warrior, but before anything else he was a samurai. To live without honor was not an option. Yet, they let him free to roam and think. And so he found himself walking down the streets of this city, full of people and sounds of life that overwhelmed him for a moment.

Everything was so lively...

Ah. The breeze was so soft and warm...

It seemed sakuras had already bloomed and gone. He looked around. More than five months...

Chizuru.

He wondered about the rest of the Shinsengumi. Nobody told him about them; he remembered they were heading to Sendai to fight with he northern troops. So he directed his steps towards Sendai. Towards her.

* * *

The path towards Sendai was difficult and arduous; from where he was to the province of Sendai several battlefields were still raging, and he was alone an unarmed; his swords confiscated for this new era. He was left a beast without claws. A warrior without swords, no, a sword without master... It didn't matter, she told him; 'even if you think you are no longer needed, I'll never think of you as useless'. Even without his swords he keeps being a warrior, a samurai. He believes in her words.

Sendai had long been lost, Choshu troops guarding it, and Saito learns from the people at the area that the Shinsengumi travelled north ahead past year, around December, towards Ezo to fight with the last of the Shogunate in Hakodate. And that they won battles there, and resisted winter. Saito cannot help but feel proud of how bravely Hijikata and the Shinsengumi fought. But he also learnt that finally, this year the Imperial forces had pressed and won, their numbers larger than the few ones remaining loyal to the Shogunate, and that they had landed on Ezo on April and afterwards had won the naval battle of Hakodate Bay, during the month of May. From then on they had progressively taken over defensive positions until the final stand occurred around the fortress of Goryokaku and Benten Daiba around the city of Hakodate. The fortress where the last remnants of the Shinsengumi stood their ground bravely fighting.

But after days of intense fighting, the morale of the troop vanished.

After having lost close to half their numbers and most of their ships, the military of Ezo Republic finally surrendered to the new Meiji government on May 17th of this year.

Today was June the 4th.

Saito was late. The war had ended as he struggled to survive in a moldy jail. His comrades had perished.

Hijikata Toshizo had died in battle, a bullet as he charged against the Imperial troops on horse.

But Saito barely had time to mourn. That was all the information he could gather from Sendai, yet he still had more unanswered than answered questions. Where was the rest of the troop? Where was Heisuke? Where was... Chizuru?

He had left her in his hands -surely Hijikata would not have brought her to war far up north. He would not. He promised to protect her.

Saito needed answers. So he embarqued a ship towards Ezo and with his new name, Fujita Goro, he remained unnoticed.

When he arrived the scenary before him was heartbreaking; the remnats of battle still fresh, the surrounded fortress crumbling to pieces, and the area devastated by gunfire. He walked the surroundings, lost and unable to ask the Imperial troops for the whereabouts of his comrades.

He directed his steps first to recognize the place, trying to find some evidence, some trace of what happened, of the last moments before the surrender.

After walking for some time, he found some tents working the job of field clinics and Imperial soldiers running around, carrying what seemed to be supplies. Saito did not see prisioners or jailers, and for what he had heard, it seemed either everyone had perished or the surviving ones had been punished to death. So there must have been no reason for prisioners. He would find nobody here of his old comrades. There was... no one left alive. Nobody who could tell him what happened, how, or where she was...

"It cannot be... Saito san? San ban tai taichou Saito Hajime!"

Saito turned around and saw a built man, covered in bandages and supporting his weight in a crutch, approach him, his uncovered eye wide with surprise.

Shimada san.

There had been survivors, he had told him. Shimada Kai had bravely fought with Hijikata and the rest of the Shinsengumi, and stood their ground defending the fortress until the end, not giving up even after the death of his kyokuchou. When Hijikata died... the morale resented, but the last of the shinsengumi were no pushovers; they decided to follow his orders, the orders of their hearts, and fight. But at one point it was surrendering and surviving to tell, or dying, crumbling with the fortress, their story mangled for the future generations. There were so many young recruitments, young men ready to fight and die for their ideals... and Shimada found, as well as the rest of higher ups around him, that they did not deserve to die in such way. So they surrendered. Alive though humilliated. Alive, to live a long life, the Meiji government promising no retaliations if they surrendered. And so they did. They had already fought enough. Dying bravely to the last one would mean nothing. He could not allow history to be written or told just from one perspective.

So Shimada Kai and the rest decided to surrender and live.

Saito understood; same as what Hijikata had told him at the Kaneko mansion, what would the point be if all of us died here? Yes, reckless bastards without an ounce of fear, we already know who we are, and they know too. But then, who'd tell our story? Who would keep with our legacy? If we all died here...

Saito had asked for Hijikata's reason to charge on horse towards the enemy, and Shimada had snickered telling him how he had bluffed and snorted at what death without honor would mean, or worse, life without honor. 'If it is not your commander who charges first, who would?' Yes, those words suited Hijikata best. Bravely carrying the makoto banner to the other life.

But then... then where was her?

With a lump in his throat, Saito decided to ask. Hope had almost vanished. Because Shimada had not spoken of her as one of the survivors.

"Yukimura san..."

He saw Shimada grimace and smile sadly, and then felt his heart slowly being stabbed.

"We thought you had died at the Battle of Nyorai-do, Saito san. The informations were that after the surrender of the castle none of the Shinsengumi had survived, and that the Aizu had been close to exterminated."

Shimada showed him the telegram that had reached them from the Imperial army at that time sieging the fortress. It was signed January, 1869.

"It was a huge blow to Hijikata san; we could see how much he had hoped for the outcome to be different, though chances were scarce. At that time, when he read it some of us were present and saw him grit his teeth and curse, then smile sadly and bark that you had the pride and honor of the shinsengumi in your back. Yet... she took the blow worse."

At this point Shimada made a pause, and Saito gripped his fists tightly. No. He swore to protect her. Why was she there... why was she even there, at Ezo?

"Yukimura kun... we thought she had stopped breathing, she grew pale and her legs faltered, and Hijikata san had to support her. After some moments though she gripped his arms strongly, her hands shaking, and when she lifted her head she smiled between tears."

_"He fought and died bravely, like a samurai. If he did not regret his choice, nor will we."_

"I did not see or hear her cry anymore afterwards, but even at the last day, her eyes were swollen and red in the morning."

"Why."

Shimada looked at Saito and then got up slowly with the help of his crutch, avoiding loking at him.

"Yukimura kun... she insisted on following us. She said once you returned from the battlefield you'd look for us here, and that she also wanted to be here. But that was not her only reason. She swore to defend the honor of the shinsegumi and fight with us, and her determination was so strong not even Hijikata san could fight her. Toudo san also supported her, swearing to protect her if worse came to worse, and Hijikata san allowed it with the condition that, if it came to really dangerous, she'd leave, no buts allowed. She never agreed, but he left the door open. It seemed nobody could kick her out, so big her determination was. And after she heard of your death... well, after that she would not move, no matter what. She said she'd be staying here, until the end. Either we all fled, or we all perished. But she'd not abandon the shinsegumi ever. Because she believed in this, she'd stay. You can't fight such determination, Saito san."

Saito knew. That she was not just a guest, or a prisioner; she had become one of them, of right. She bravely had stood her ground and fought for their convictions, now hers too. She was a warrior, like them. Shimada smiled then, wistfully.

"Even to the last day Hijikata san tried to send her away, even ordered her to. But she refused everytime, same as she had done before."

_"I won't go. And I don't plan to die either, Hijikata san. I am going to fight with you, we are going to resist and face them, and if after this battle I die here, at least I'll be closer to him. At least this way I'll feel what he felt, and will be able to meet him in the other side without regrets. A warrior like him, worth his aknowledgement."_

After this, there was a silence. Shimada was in a bad shape, probably he had fought until the end, but at least he had not been tortureed; the Meiji government had been faithful to its promise.

If Shimada had survived... why had Chizuru not?

"What happened... to her?"

Shimada took his time to answer, his voice wavering slightly as he remembered the last days of the Shinsegumi.

"After Hijikata san died... the few of us remaining here had to strenghten our morale as we could; we had just lost our commander and some of the men wanted to surrender just then and there, panic growing and spreading like dust in a wind storm. And then Yukimura kun rose her voice."

_"Let the rasetsu unit open a path for you."_

"Toudo san and her offered to fight first. Whether we escaped while they were making a distraction, or decided to counter attack was up to us."

"Why didn't Heisuke - why nobody stopped her!?"

Saito's voice rose, a hoarse cry as he could not look anywhere but the ground.

"Ah... I wonder too. We all wanted to avoid their sacrifice. But it seemed... they were set on it. Toudo san said he had little life left to spend so he wanted to give his last breathe for something worthy. And Yukimura kun said... she had no reason to survive this battle. At this point, not only she was desperate, but us too. If their sacrifice could buy us time, some men accepted it. And Toudo san, well, even until the last moment he jested she'd be back to us because he'd protect her out there. So even if it all were lies, we chose to believe in them. And so they went out in the night. And never returned."

After that the Imperial army had offered them to peacefully surrender, and finally they had accepted.

Barely two weeks... Saito could not stop thinking that barely two weeks separated her death from him. If he had come here sooner, if he had... been able to save her.

Chizuru was dead.

He had failed to protect her heart. He had failed her, and lost her. Now he could only lament and curse and wonder, a hurting stab in his heart, if it would not have been better to keep her with him. If he should have allowed her to stay by his side. Even if they had died... even if he had failed to protect her, at least... at least he would have greedily loved her.

Nothing. Saito had been left with nothing but regrets.

The woman he loved had died. He could not avoid it in the end. Saito wished he had died in battle, so he could have been the one awaiting for her in the afterlife. To confess his love.

The only thing remaining were regrets.

"Thank you, Shimada san..."

"I am sorry, Saito taicho."

Shimada lowered his head as a bow, but also to cover his tears from Saito's sight. Ah. The pain... the loss... how strange, in this clear, warm day, such devastating and lonely feeling. Saito got up from the ground and, patting Shimada's shoulder, walked towards the ruins of the fortress.

And slowly, as his feet drove him without a direction in mind, he felt his body start to weight less, his limbs lose feeling and his head feel lighter though his heart had been drowned in lead.

Finally, the strenght he had been storing, building in hopes to see her again, was leaving him. He had lost her. He had... no more reason to keep fighting his fate. He could finally let go of everything, and be craddled by the wind, towards her.

Ah... the breeze suddenly smelled like sakuras blooming...

* * *

It is unknown where Hijikata was buried. Among the things he entrusted to Ichimura Tetsunosuke shortly before his death were a death poem, a photograph of himself, a few strands of his hair, two swords, and a letter addressed to Sato Hikogoro. The death poem entrusted to Ichimura Tetsunosuke read:

_'Though my body may decay on the island of Ezo, My spirit guards my lord in the east.'_

Yukimura Chizuru left nothing before her death. She said she had nothing to leave to nobody. Because all her loved ones were already gone before her, instead of a memento, she'd be much more glad to be finally reunited with them.

Saito disappeared. It is unknown where he went. The shinsengumi became outlaws and the Meiji government ruled leading Japan to an era of peace, open to the world.

Shimada Kai and the rest of survivors lead a peaceful and out of the focus of attention life until their deaths.

The Meiji restoration had reaped many lives, but seemed intent on protecting many more from then on. Swords were banished and samurais became a thing of the past. The history of the Shinsengumi and their battles started to blur like the waves of a rock thrown to a pond. And life went on.

* * *

*Ps: there seems to be controversy with the exact dates of events; if you take the lunar calendar, the fall and surrender of the shinsengumi happened in May. If not, in June. I take the lunar calendar here. See wikipedia shinsengumi for more info.


End file.
